The 13- and 15-inch varieties of Apple's next-generation MacBook Pro, which will drop the optical disc drive for a thinner profile, are said to now be in production.

Initial monthly shipments of the notebooks will be between 100,000 and 150,000, sources at Apple's overseas partners told DigiTimes. Though the new MacBook Pros will ditch the optical drive, the updated notebooks will feature "more advanced specs" than the MacBook Air, suggesting that the 13- and 15-inch Pro models will continue to exist alongside the Air.

The new MacBook Pros are said to feature stronger CPU performance and larger storage capacity than their MacBook Air counterparts. Shipments of the new notebooks to Apple will begin this month, the report said.

As suppliers ramp up production of the new MacBook Pro, monthly shipments are expected to eventually reach 900,000 units, well up from the current numbers in limited production.

Supply chain sources suggested that the new MacBook Pro models might arrive around the same time as new Windows Ultrabooks also based on Intel's latest-generation Ivy Bridge processors.

This week, a pair of reports suggested that Apple will debut a new MacBook lineup in April based on Intel's Ivy Bridge processors. In particular, Much attention has been paid to a new 15-inch notebook model. Reports have differed on whether it will be a 15-inch MacBook Air, expanding the thin-and-light product line to a new form factor, or if it will simply be a new MacBook Pro with a thinner profile.

One report on Thursday claimed that Apple will debut a new, thinner 15-inch MacBook Pro based on Intel's latest Ivy Bridge Core i5 and Core i7 CPUs. It was said that the new MacBook Pro would still be thinner than the different MacBook Air lineup.

That was somewhat in contrast to a separate report issued on Wednesday that claimed Apple was to launch a new 15-inch MacBook Air in April, "effectively killing the Pro." It was suggested that the 13- and 15-inch MacBook Air models could even completely replace their MacBook Pro counterparts in the same screen sizes, leaving only the 17-inch MacBook Pro as the only "Pro" laptop from Apple.

Whether Apple's new 15-inch notebook is known as a "Pro" or an Air," the model has been rumored since last year. Like the MacBook Air, it is expected to lack a built-in optical drive and Ethernet port, as Apple continues its push for digital distribution of software through the Mac App Store.

AppleInsider reported in February that Apple is gearing up to introduce radically redesigned MacBook Pro models this year, borrowing the super-thin design the company has pioneered with its MacBook Air. One person familiar with the new MacBook Pro designs said "they're all going to look like MacBook Airs."

I am not talking about dual boot (or may be). But somehow, either windowed or just seamless integration between Mac Apps and IOS Apps.

It is not a necessity but seems to be a natural evolution.

I don't see that happening at all since having your Mac's display be a touchscreen is far from ideal.

What I would like to see happen with Apple's new move to a yearly OS X release is to make their Mac OS a free update. This will not only be a value add to each Mac purchase but allow Apple to lower support costs by having a lot more users on the same OS. Over all I would expect this move to increase Mac adoption which in turn increases their total profit.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

I don't see that happening at all since having your Mac's display be a touchscreen is far from ideal.

What I would like to see happen with Apple's new move to a yearly OS X release is to make their Mac OS a free update. This will not only be a value add to each Mac purchase but allow Apple to lower support costs by having a lot more users on the same OS. Over all I would expect this move to increase Mac adoption which in turn increases their total profit.

I wonder whether Apple will really drop the ethernet port on a Pro model? I hope not.

Yes, WiFi is pretty fast these days, and yes, the Thunderbolt port can provide wired ethernet. But in office environments WiFi is by no means universally available, and the T'bolt options are very limited.

As an example of the latter, I've recently installed an Apple 27" T'bolt display connected to a user's MacBook Pro. It's a terrific setup, with the single T'bolt connection providing wired gigabit ethernet (as well as video, FW and USB). But this is a one thousand dollar monitor. That's not unreasonable for the features it provides, but at a price level that's going to limit its adoption. Belkin has announced a T'bolt hub that would include ethernet. But at an announced price of $299 it makes that 27" Apple display look like a pretty good deal.

It seems to me that retaining a gigabit ethernet port of the Pro models would make sense.

I have no need for ethernet, video out, or FW ports on my Mac and have not used any of them in years yet I think all three have a place today, which FW being the weakest argument for retention.

I think the retention of Firewire is related to a lot of fixed peripherals. I have an 800 dollar video camera that only connects via firewire, and a 10x10 audio interface that is firewire only. Without the ability to connect those devices I'd find myself not upgrading, because I like them a hell of a lot and everything I do with them I can do on my current machine. If they can keep the firewire port, they probably will, at least for one model on the line. A lot of people have expensive fixed hardware that relies on that interface, and not everyone has a grand to spend on a new monitor.

I was thinking smaller scale. Screw touch for now. This is more sort of an extension to Boot Camp, meaning providing a one stop for switching between OSes. May be this is the perfect opportunity and niche for VMWare, Parallels or another company to fill in.

OS X, for all its glory, still relies on the legacy desktop metaphor, and its inherent weaknesses.

Yeah I know it is not the desktop paradigm itself that is the problem, but there is definitely baggage from earlier expectations on how desktop based OSes should work.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolipsismX

I'm really excited about this.

I don't see that happening at all since having your Mac's display be a touchscreen is far from ideal.

What I would like to see happen with Apple's new move to a yearly OS X release is to make their Mac OS a free update. This will not only be a value add to each Mac purchase but allow Apple to lower support costs by having a lot more users on the same OS. Over all I would expect this move to increase Mac adoption which in turn increases their total profit.

Originally Posted by Granmastak: Labor unions managed to kill manufacturing a long time ago with their unreasonable demands. Now the people they were trying to protect, are out of a job.

I think the retention of Firewire is related to a lot of fixed peripherals. I have an 800 dollar video camera that only connects via firewire, and a 10x10 audio interface that is firewire only. Without the ability to connect those devices I'd find myself not upgrading, because I like them a hell of a lot and everything I do with them I can do on my current machine. If they can keep the firewire port, they probably will, at least for one model on the line. A lot of people have expensive fixed hardware that relies on that interface, and not everyone has a grand to spend on a new monitor.

I have no doubt they will retain FW, as I stated in my post, I just think it's the weakest argument of all three port types. My reasoning is this: Video out has tobe maintained for external displays, even though very few customers use them. Ethernet needs to be retained for security and connectivity for very few customers (though more than for video out) that use them. FW needs to be maintained for the reasons you state but its functionality is being replaced by Thunderbolt so it's not unlikely that future peripherals could use Thunderbolt over FW in future products.

On top of that, the FW1600/3200 spec has been finished for awhile and we've not seen Apple show interest in future proofing the tech which leads me to believe they are just going to let it wallow until the solution for those with antiquated devices that use FW is to buy a Thunderbolt hub or adapter with a FW interface.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

I think it's unlikely these will have a retina display but I'd really love it if they at least bumped up the resolution a bit. The 13 inch Air has a 1440x900 screen and the 13 inch pro doesn't. With the programs I use I'd really benefit from the increase. Does anyone know how quickly they tend to release their new laptops after announcing them?

1) That's a complete ratification. I will be surprised if Apple isn't supporting 802.11ac in the next MBPs. Note that Apple supported 802.11n years before it was ratified and that 802.11ac is progressing much more competently and smoothly than 802.11n

2) Even once we get gigabit WiFi it'll still have less security, use more power and be slower due to more overhead than ethernet which makes it a less than ideal solution for those that need a wired connection.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

I would still like to see an ethernet port on the MacBook Pro models. Things like FW, Ethernet, and maybe 1 extra USB port (and make it USB 3) would differentiate them from the Air models. WiFi, while nice isn't always a good option. Its not where near as fast as gigabit ethernet and wired is always more reliable than wireless.

What I'm wondering is...will they just add a thunderbolt port and have a docking station type thing using the thunderbolt port...which can handle everything with little or no slowdown.

Gigabit WiFi while nice is useless until it comes mainstream. Even if Apple put it on their new MBP's, its useless until you get wireless access points/routers using the same technology. No doubt, the AirPort Express, AirPort Extreme, and Time Capsule's would get the upgrade, but not everyone has those for wireless access.

The Firewire port, TB/HDMI for video,Ethernet and USB ports are all necessary, but you have to consider the reasons why a port should be removed.

For example, the firewire port can be dropped when something replaces it. Is TB going to replace it? No. Is USB3? Possibly. Firewire is more likely to be replaced by a wireless form of Ethernet than TB. The design issue with TB is that it's one port, when that port needs to be used by no less than two devices. (Eg Video camera and a Storage array.)

If every Apple device instead came with two TB ports and three USB3 ports, and then axed the Ethernet and Firewire ports. We'd be ok, because either Wireless Ethernet can replace it, or one of the ports can be used for Ethernet. But it's one more thing to break, lose, or have to remember to pack.

But I think it steps away from Apple's design philosophy in wanting to make things easier and one-step. Accessories (and drivers) are the thorn in PC designs, and we'd be much better off the physical accessories had their own firmware "drivers" that the host device can just initialize and make it work. Things like the iPad don't need all the complexity because the deign philosophy for them is to have "just one" connector with nothing to break.

We are likely to see the optical drives removed, as the Macmini already shows Apple is moving in this direction. We won't see the Macbook Pro get that much thinner, as most of the thickness in a laptop is the heatsinks. You might see it become tapered like the Air without the optical drive however.

I'd like to see "retina display" upgrades for the laptops, but I'm not sure we'll see it in anything but the 15" model, as 1920x1200 displays for 15" laptops have been available since 2004, so I'm certain a modest bump up is possible.

I hear you. If WiFi-N is any indication, Gigabit WiFi will probably suck due to the gap between theoretical vs. actual throughput. I haven't used wired Ethernet for my laptops since the G standard, so it is a compromise I'm willing to take.

As for Apple's GigWi implementation, I'll believe it when I see it in the Apple Store.

Quote:

Originally Posted by SolipsismX

1) That's a complete ratification. I will be surprised if Apple isn't supporting 802.11ac in the next MBPs. Note that Apple supported 802.11n years before it was ratified and that 802.11ac is progressing much more competently and smoothly than 802.11n

2) Even once we get gigabit WiFi it'll still have less security, use more power and be slower due to more overhead than ethernet which makes it a less than ideal solution for those that need a wired connection.

Originally Posted by Granmastak: Labor unions managed to kill manufacturing a long time ago with their unreasonable demands. Now the people they were trying to protect, are out of a job.

When Jobs announced the iPad, his discussion centered creating something in the middle between a laptop and a smartphone that was better than either. Well now Apple has, in order, the iPhone, the iPad, the MBA and the MBP.

As I see it, the evolution will result in iPhone, iPad, MBP, with iOS and OS X merging for the most part, the iPad becoming almost as powerful as the MBA, and the MBP staying as powerful, but taking on the form factor of MBA.

The technical factor preventing this now is expense and capacity of solid-state drives. Once the capacity increases to say 250GB and the price lowers by a factor of 3-5, the hard drive will become an external optional purchase, and the MBP/MBA will be the same device.

The merged operating system will be iOS X and will run on both devices on both Intel and ARM.

I wonder whether Apple will really drop the ethernet port on a Pro model? I hope not.

Yes, WiFi is pretty fast these days, and yes, the Thunderbolt port can provide wired ethernet. But in office environments WiFi is by no means universally available, and the T'bolt options are very limited.

It seems to me that retaining a gigabit ethernet port of the Pro models would make sense.

Ivy Bridge will bring USB 3.0 support. I suspect that Apple will offer a $29 USB 3.0 Gigabit Ethernet adapter and drop the port from future models. That would be entirely consistent with their history.

Two TB ports. Obviously not a big deal today but if you keep a MBP for five or so years two ports could become very useful.

Three USB ports, at least two of which are USB3. Sadly I'm always short on USB ports with iOS devices, USB storage keys, disk drives and the like there are never enough ports.

Retina like display.

A decent GPU to drive that display. Oh and it needs enough RAM to make it worthwhile.

35 to 45 watt CPU chips of the Ivy Bridge bent. Not that IB makes a big deal if you are using a separate GPU but more OpenCL resources are always nice.

Enhanced battery life. This is a big reason for ditching the optical. Share that freed up space between the battery and secondary storage.

Ah yes secondary storage. Here I want slots for at least three SSD modules plus a bay for a magnetic drive. In a MBP class machine with no optical this should be easy to do.

The base SSD needs to be greater than 256 GB. Frankly I wouldn't complain at all if Apple keep the current price structures to bring us a base SSD of 512GB running on a high speed PCI Express interface.

8GB for base RAM, unless of course they use three channel memory the 12GB of RAM.

An internal expansion option for LTE.

Well that is enough. Honestly though by the time I replace my MBP I might consider a desktop if Apple can pull its head out of the dark place and actually design a decent desktop. Why? Because the iPad is a better portable computer for my current needs. My 3 should be here real soon now but I can imagine a vastly improved iPad 4 next year. The question then becomes do I really need two different portables.

Two TB ports. Obviously not a big deal today but if you keep a MBP for five or so years two ports could become very useful.

Three USB ports, at least two of which are USB3. Sadly I'm always short on USB ports with iOS devices, USB storage keys, disk drives and the like there are never enough ports.

Retina like display.

A decent GPU to drive that display. Oh and it needs enough RAM to make it worthwhile.

35 to 45 watt CPU chips of the Ivy Bridge bent. Not that IB makes a big deal if you are using a separate GPU but more OpenCL resources are always nice.

Enhanced battery life. This is a big reason for ditching the optical. Share that freed up space between the battery and secondary storage.

Ah yes secondary storage. Here I want slots for at least three SSD modules plus a bay for a magnetic drive. In a MBP class machine with no optical this should be easy to do.

The base SSD needs to be greater than 256 GB. Frankly I wouldn't complain at all if Apple keep the current price structures to bring us a base SSD of 512GB running on a high speed PCI Express interface.

8GB for base RAM, unless of course they use three channel memory the 12GB of RAM.

An internal expansion option for LTE.

Well that is enough. Honestly though by the time I replace my MBP I might consider a desktop if Apple can pull its head out of the dark place and actually design a decent desktop. Why? Because the iPad is a better portable computer for my current needs. My 3 should be here real soon now but I can imagine a vastly improved iPad 4 next year. The question then becomes do I really need two different portables.

I like your list, I think many will arrive, think a few are unlikely, and think one is not going to happen. No way 8 GB RAM will be the minimum for a MBP in 2012. I wouldn't expect that until 2014.

This bot has been removed from circulation due to a malfunctioning morality chip.

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a retina display will allow the same ratio than now for police and the ui and more details in pictures, documents and all.

I see you have the same problem with auto correct that I have! 😉😉😁😁

In any event the latest release of Mac OS has pretty much transitioned to resolution independence. I'm fairly certain the next update will release that functionality for the new laptops. The big question is does Apple go for a 2X increase in resolution or do they go with a multiplier like 1.5X. It is an interesting question because of the different trade offs.

Two TB ports. Obviously not a big deal today but if you keep a MBP for five or so years two ports could become very useful.
TB is daisy-chainable. Besides, how many devices do you expect to attach routinely to your laptop, anyway?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

Three USB ports, at least two of which are USB3. Sadly I'm always short on USB ports with iOS devices, USB storage keys, disk drives and the like there are never enough ports.
There's something called a hub. Maybe you should ask someone to explain it to you.

Very few people need all that many USB devices in use at the same time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

Retina like display.
Higher resolution is usually good - although there is a penalty in battery life.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

A decent GPU to drive that display. Oh and it needs enough RAM to make it worthwhile.
And I supposed you get to define that, right?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

35 to 45 watt CPU chips of the Ivy Bridge bent. Not that IB makes a big deal if you are using a separate GPU but more OpenCL resources are always nice.
The onboard CPU in IB is important. Most people will find that they're using the discrete CPU only a very small percentage of the time.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

Enhanced battery life. This is a big reason for ditching the optical. Share that freed up space between the battery and secondary storage.
How often is 7 hours not enough for you?

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

Ah yes secondary storage. Here I want slots for at least three SSD modules plus a bay for a magnetic drive. In a MBP class machine with no optical this should be easy to do.
In a laptop? Three SSD modules plus a magnetic drive? That's ridiculous. The number of people who would need that is infinitesimal.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

The base SSD needs to be greater than 256 GB. Frankly I wouldn't complain at all if Apple keep the current price structures to bring us a base SSD of 512GB running on a high speed PCI Express interface.
And that way you can complain about the price......

You're suggesting 3 SSDs plus a magnetic drive. If you have a large magnetic drive, why in the world is 512 GB necessary for the SSD? All you really need is enough to store the OS and apps. In fact, if they were to go with a separate magnetic drive and SSD configuration, that argues for a SMALLER SSD, not a larger one. 64 (or maybe 128) GB would be plenty if you have a 750 GB magnetic drive.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

8GB for base RAM, unless of course they use three channel memory the 12GB of RAM.
So you have another reason to complain about the price.

Quote:

Originally Posted by wizard69

An internal expansion option for LTE.

I don't believe Apple has ever offered cell phone connections internal in their laptops (although there was one prototype on eBay). I don't see any reason to expect that to change. It's easy enough to use a USB dongle for wireless (plus you don't have to stock different MBPs for each different carrier).

"I'm way over my head when it comes to technical issues like this"Gatorguy 5/31/13

I like your list, I think many will arrive, think a few are unlikely, and think one is not going to happen. No way 8 GB RAM will be the minimum for a MBP in 2012. I wouldn't expect that until 2014.

Of all of my hopes above I would think this would be the easiest One for Apple to realize. Especially when you look at Base RAM in the AIRs which I would expect would move to 4GB across all AIRs. Ram is basically dirt cheap these days. I could even see Apple buying up Elipda to own part of the supply chain.

I have no need for ethernet, video out, or FW ports on my Mac and have not used any of them in years yet I think all three have a place today, which FW being the weakest argument for retention. ...

I think the key is the Ethernet port as it is the tallest anyway. As long as they don't go all the way to MacBook Air thinness, they will have room for Ethernet and once they can include Ethernet, FireWire, USB etc. are all eminently possible at least from a design perspective. The decision to include one or the other would be political/market driven at that point.

I have no use for laptops at all, especially since iOS, but I think this is shaping up like a fantastic upgrade for pro laptop users. Apple obviously has some cool new battery technology, and possibly some flash storage secrets as well.

I would predict:

- no optical drive
- no hard drive but very large SSD
- VASTLY improved battery life
- much lighter and thinner